9. Graphics Tablet

Graphics tablets are often use by graphics designers and illustrators.

Using a graphics tablet, a designer can produce much more accurate drawings on the screen than they could with a mouse or other pointing device.

When combined with an art application such as Corel Painter or Photoshop, a talented artist can produce incredible illustrations and images with it.

A graphics tablet consists of a flat pad (the tablet) on which you 'draw' with a special pen. As you draw on the pad an image is created on the computer monitor from within the application that the tablet is connected to.

The pen is usually radio controlled rather than touch control. This is very useful should you want to trace out an existing line drawing on paper, as you can simply place the paper over the pad and start tracing it out. Some pens have a pressure sensitive tip to allow the artist to draw heavier or lighter lines.

Advantages

• It is much more natural to draw diagrams with a pencil type implement (the stylus) rather than with a mouse
• A great level of accuracy can be achieved

Disadvantages

• Not really suitable for general selection work such as pointing and clicking on menu items
• Graphics tablets are much more expensive than a mouse